A major key to beating the new coronavirus will be the development of a range of therapies which will let us lead normal lives as we defeat the disease.

Finding and developing therapies can occur much faster than finding a vaccine. Indeed, with HIV/AIDS we have yet to find a vaccine. In fact, a recent estimate is that 2030 might be the earliest we can expect a vaccine for that virus. However, the number of successful therapies has reduced the danger of HIV/AIDS dramatically.

With COVID-19, we have the advantage that over the years we have developed a number of therapies to help people recover from contagious diseases. One such therapy is the use of convalescent plasma. This uses the blood of someone who has survived the virus and recovered to help bolster the immune systems of the infected.

Convalescent serum (plasma) has been used in many pandemics in the past including the 1918 Spanish Flu, the 1934 Convalescent Measles and the 1946 Mumps. The practice ended after the 1950s because of the discovery of blood-borne pathogens and because many new vaccines were developed which started to prevent these diseases.